June 17

Today in 1971, Richard Nixon announced the War on Drugs, which would lead the United States to imprison more people than any other country in the world. Exactly one year later, his lackeys were arrested for breaking into the offices of the Democratic National Committee in order to wiretap them, demonstrating the double standard in how “law” is interpreted and applied. Although Nixon would be politically cornered and eventually would choose to resign rather than face continuing scandal, the current administration has no such shame, and breaks the law and dispenses punishment in ways that uphold white supremacy, enrich the wealthy and harm the poor. 

Today is a feast day for Samuel and Henrietta Barnett, who founded Toynbee Hall. (I mentioned Henrietta in this devotional last week.) They were social reformers who believed it was part of their Christian vocation to break down class barriers and live close to the poor, focusing on education and programs of social uplift. Samuel died in 1913, and Henrietta would die in 1936 after more decades of Christian mission. 

Today is the birthday, in 1871, of James Weldon Johnson, a poet, author, civil rights leader, and anti-lynching advocate who served as president of the NAACP. He and his brother, J.Rosamond Johnson, wrote the lyrics to “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also referred to as the Black National Anthem. 

Today is also the birthday, in 1936, of Vern Harper, Cree elder and medicine man, prison chaplain, and First Nations activist in Toronto. He provided ceremonies that linked many indigenous people to their traditions, and was an important voice in raising indigenous rights in Canada. He was referred to as an “Urban elder.” 

Reflection: 

James Weldon Johnson’s poetry sometimes reflected the cadence of black preaching that he hear from his father in his childhood, and he crafted, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful retellings of the story in Genesis 1 called “Creation”: 

Johnson here describes what contemporary authors have pointed out: that slavery was never defeated after the civil war. It just changed shape: 

One of the ways slavery turned into the carceral system was through convict leasing. Although this happened especially after Reconstruction, much of this was formally put into place a century later by the war on drugs. Decades after the War on Drugs began, Nixon’s policy advisor John Ehrlichman said, 

As I’ve shared elsewhere, in 2018, I was given the opportunity to participate in a clinical trial of psilocybin. This is a schedule 1 drug, condemned by the DEA as having “no medical benefit,” even though we have had research for decades showing that it has potential mental health benefits. After my own experience, I felt it was important to let more people know about it. I was able to receive these benefits in a legal, safe setting because of my privilege as a white clergyperson, but many people are in prison simply because they were medicating their own trauma. My own experience opened my eyes to the hypocrisy of a government weaponized against Black people and pacifists and indifferent to the suffering of poor people of all ethnicities. The “War on Drugs” has always been a smokescreen for state violence directed at the most vulnerable. While substance abuse is a serious public health crisis, we should treat it as a matter of public health, and not a crime.

Psilocybin and other psychedelics are also being used to help wean people from their addiction.  

Prayer: God of liberation, the institution of slavery still exists, and it remains an attack upon your very image. Help us to honor your image in all human beings by dismantling the carceral state and implementing smarter drug policies. Amen.